


Christmas Party

by the_rest_is_silence



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Christmas Party, Daisuke to Ken no Kaimono Carol, Fluff, Mentions of Anxiety, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 17:57:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12989433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_rest_is_silence/pseuds/the_rest_is_silence
Summary: December 2003. The Chosen Children have decided to throw a Christmas party, but unfortunately, noone seems to have realised that parties typically need snacks and decorations - and that those don't just appear out of thin air. And so, Daisuke and Ken are sent on a last-minute shopping trip...Based on Daisuke to Ken no Kaimono Carol, which is delightfully whacky!





	Christmas Party

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you following my longer story Loss - don't worry! I'm still working on that, but the new chapters need a lot of work and attention so I'm taking my time with those! This was much less work-intensive, so take it as a little break - for both you and me - from all the angst and fear that goes with the Loss storyline ;-)

**Christmas Party**

 

It was only the second time Ken was going to celebrate Christmas with his friends. He still remembered all too clearly how terrified he had been last year when he’d had to ask Daisuke, Miyako, Takeru, Hikari and Iori if they would come to a Christmas party at his house. His mother had thought it was a good idea, but she hadn’t known what had happened between them – she had had no idea how hard it had been for Ken to ask these people, who he had fought against mere months ago, to an actual party in his home, but he hadn’t wanted to disappoint her. Not after all that he’d done to his parents.

And after all, it had worked out well. Ken looked at Daisuke who was walking right beside him, a beaming grin on his face and Chibimon travelling in the hood of his sweater. Daisuke caught him looking and his friend’s grin, if that was even possible, broadened further. “Man, it sucks that we have to do the shopping!” But his expression was still as carefree as ever despite the complaint.

“I guess they sort of forgot that we would need to buy some stuff for the party,” Ken replied diplomatically – he had thought to himself that the others had been rather late with the preparations, considering that the party was going to take place tonight, but he was so thrilled that he had not only been invited to this party, but was trusted enough to be sent shopping for it, that he didn’t really mind the chaos and inefficiency involved in the whole endeavour.

“Guess you’re right!” Daisuke agreed enthusiastically. “They’re just not as good at this as we are, huh, Ken?”

Ken smiled and didn’t inform Daisuke that they hadn’t exactly tried yet to organise a Christmas Party on their own and had thus no way of knowing if they would actually fare any better than Taichi, Koushiro and Sora who had volunteered to put the party together this year – or rather, Taichi had volunteered himself and badgered Koushiro and Sora into going along with him.

“Ahh, anyway, it’s great that we’re having this party!” Daisuke continued, rendered especially talkative today by his good mood. “We’ll be having lots of food –“ he glanced at the shopping list, “cake! Cake is good. And lots of presents. And school’s off, too, that’s just awesome,” Ken chuckled and let Daisuke babble on – only when he started saying that he wished Christmas could be all year round did he feel the need to interrupt. “Ahh, Daisuke, you know that Christmas is originally a religious holiday that’s very important to millions of people all around the world, don’t you?”

Daisuke stared at him like that was the first he ever heard about that, so Ken, a little sheepishly, continued. “Christians celebrate it as the day the saviour was born, so they go to church and pray…” Somewhat anxiously, he gazed at his best friend, but Daisuke, who had never once called him a know-it-all or had otherwise teased him for his love of learning, just looked at him with an expression that came almost close to admiration. “Awesome, Ken, how do you know all that?!”

The answer “because I read, you know” would probably have been impolite but he was spared the trouble of coming up with another answer as to why he had some general knowledge about world religions when Minomon piped up from his warm nest inside Ken’s scarf. “Ken-chan knows everything!”

“I don’t-“

“Oh yeah, he’s pretty smart,” Daisuke agreed happily, and Ken blushed.

“Well, I don’t know everything, anyway, but I do know what Christmas is – and also that this is the department store we were supposed to go to, isn’t it?”

Daisuke came to an abrupt halt and Ken, who’d still been mid-step, bumped into Daisuke’s back. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Ken blurted out immediately, but Daisuke just waved his hand dismissively. “Come on, lemme have a look at that list – whaaat, how long _is_ this list? Do they want us to buy the whole mall?!”

He shoved the list back into Ken’s face, clearly expecting him to commiserate. Ken whistled through his teeth – it certainly wasn’t a short list. “How are we supposed to carry all that?”

“They really shouldn’t have sent us all alone…” he agreed reluctantly. He didn’t like criticising the other Chosen Children, not even when it was about something as trivial as a Christmas Party.  


“I can digi-volve to Stingmon and carry it for you, Ken-chan!”

“Or we can Jogress to Paildramon and carry you both to the party, too!”

 

Ken snorted. “That seems to be a little bit of an exaggeration, really. Maybe you can digi-volve once and help carry everything, but that’s about the extent of it.”  

Daisuke threw an arm around his shoulder and drew him towards the department store. “Don’t say no to that possibility too soon, Ken, let’s see what we’re saying once we’ve got everything!” he suggested with a big grin, and Ken had to shake his head laughing.

“Fine, we’ll decide if we want to cause a mass panic later on.”

“That’s the spirit!”

 ***************************

A little while later, they stood in front of a store selling computer supplies, debating if they were really reading the list right.

“That’s just a bunch of computer programmes, what the heck does _that_ have to do with Christmas?!” Daisuke asked, looking at Ken as if he seriously expected a lecture on how exactly buying computer programmes was related with Christmas traditions.

Ken just shrugged. “Nothing. I think Koushiro-senpai just put those on the list because he needs them.”

“Gnnahh, seriously? Who do they think we are?!”

He smiled a little nervously. “He probably didn’t think about how heavy all of this would be. After all, they gave us enough money for everything so it’s not like he’s expecting us to just buy these programmes for him. Knowing Koushiro-senpai, I suspect that he thought it would be logical to ask us to get these because we were going to the department store anyway.”

Daisuke huffed, but took the list and went into the shop with Ken, still grumbling. Ken had to admit that their loads were getting rather heavy – they had bought snacks and drinks, but they still needed to get decorations and some fitting music for the party, but the bags they were carrying, already seemed to be bursting at the seams.

********************

They had ended up with two bags each – two heavy bags, as Daisuke couldn’t stop complaining, sounding about as whiny as was humanly possible.  But Ken still had the feeling that Daisuke rather enjoyed his indignant muttering and would certainly take much glee in taking it up with Taichi personally later on, so he simply let him grumble, occasionally joining in with a few affirmative noises.

Despite the straps of the bags cutting into his palms and the cold wind biting at his nose and cheeks, Ken felt content and warm inside. He was going to spend the entire day with Daisuke, and later on, with all the others and their partners, too. What could be better? As they walked through the busy streets, Ken’s gaze fell into one of the shop windows and he stopped short. In the window, there lay the perfect present for Daisuke. It was for sale, so Ken could just about afford it with his pocket money. He looked at Daisuke, already a few steps ahead. The only reason he hadn’t got anything for Daisuke yet was that they were doing a game called “Secret Santa” – Mimi’s suggestion – and he hadn’t been lucky enough to draw Daisuke’s name. He really shouldn’t get it, not when everyone else would just stick to the Secret Santa rules, but he wanted to give a present to Daisuke so badly – _this_ present, in the hope that Daisuke would beam at him when he got it…

“Oi Ken, what are you looking at? Come on, we don’t wanna be late.”

Daisuke started to walk back to him, but Ken quickly turned away from the shop window and joined him again. “Nothing! Ah, it was nothing, I was just looking at…eh…”

Daisuke nudged his shoulder against Ken’s companionably. “Are you looking for a present for your mum or something? Cause we don’t have time for that now.”

Ken cleared his throat and laughed nervously. “Y-yeah…”

When they’d reached the next block of streets, however, he’d come up with a plan. “Listen, you can carry that on your own, right?”

 

“Eh?!”

“I’ve got to do something, I’ll rejoin you at the Christmas Party.” Ken smiled as innocently as he possibly could and pushed both his bags into Daisuke’s hands. “You’ll be alright, won’t you?” It was perfect, really. He’d get to tease Daisuke, manage to get away from him from long enough to buy the present – and when he’d get back, they could both laugh about a well executed prank with the added bonus that Ken could use the present to thank Daisuke for…for being Daisuke, he supposed.

He struggled not to laugh when he saw Daisuke’s confused face, but he couldn’t enjoy it for long. “Well, okay, then, I’ll see you later!” And with a cheery little wave, he turned around the corner, ready to run back to the shop in one of the adjacent streets. He could still hear Daisuke calling after him. “Hey, no, wait! Ichijouji! Ken! Wait!!!”

******************************

“So you played a trick on Daisuke-san to buy him a present?” Minomon wanted to know while Ken rushed through the crowd to catch up with Daisuke. “That’s right.” Ken was still pleased with his plan, utterly certain that Daisuke would find it funny and be very happy later on when he saw what Ken had got him.

He could see Daisuke a couple of feet away from him, still moaning about all the bags he now had to carry. He’d even got Veemon to evolve so he could help him, but it was still quite a lot for one person to carry – he’d be relieved once Ken took up his share again. “Hey Daisuke, I’m back.”

Daisuke turned around and scowled. “Oh are you? Well I hope you managed to do whatever was so important that you just left me hanging.”

“I…”

“Should have brought Takeru, really.”

Ken’s face fell. “It was…it was meant to be a joke.”

Daisuke huffed. “Oh very funny.” He raised his nose up to look at Ken haughtily. “I’d like to see you try carry all that stuff on your own! Dunno if you still think it’s funny then.”

His heart seemed to have stopped beating. “Oh, oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to – here, let me carry all of them, I’m so sorry, Daisuke.” He was so busy apologising, so terrified that he might have offended Daisuke so greatly that he wouldn’t want to be best friends anymore that he didn’t notice the mischievous glint in his friend’s eyes as he handed over all four bags for Ken to carry.

He was still apologising when they approached Taichi’s family flat, where the party would take place, and so he completely missed that Daisuke’s fake-offense had long been replaced by a sheepish look of guilt.

“Come on, Ken, I’ll carry them for the rest of the way. You don’t have to carry them all the way to Taichi-senpai’s flat. “

“No, no, it’s fine! I’ll carry them! I’m sorry, Daisuke!”

“Nah, come on!”

Daisuke tried to grab the bags from Ken, but Ken wouldn’t let go, and eventually, they ended up carrying two of the bags together, hands touching. Ken pressed his lips together anxiously. Why didn’t he just tell Daisuke to wait a few minutes instead of just leaving him? Why did he have to try and be funny? Ken wasn’t funny, and now Daisuke thought he was selfish and unfair.

They entered the elevator to Taichi’s flat in a silence, which continued well into the party. Silently, Ken handed over the bags to Sora, who’d greeted them at Taichi’s door, but he didn’t notice her frown at the apparent tension between the two boys nor Daisuke’s attempts to talk to him.

With his cheeks flushed in mortification, he rushed from Daisuke’s side to a less busy corner of the room – hardly greeting any of his other friends beyond a quick nod and ignoring Minomon’s worried questions – and decided to stay there, away from the others, preferably forever.

He was absolutely convinced that he had single-handedly destroyed their friendship with one stupid, misjudged prank.

Staying alone, however, proved to be impossible. Soon enough, Hikari had joined him and asked if he was feeling well. “Y-yes, I’m fine.”

“Are you nervous about the Secret Santa thing? I’m sure you found a brilliant present… I got Jou-senpai – that wasn’t easy, but I think I found something he’ll like. What about you?”

“It- it’s not-“

“Ahhh, hello, Ken-kun!” He flinched a little when two arms were wrapped around his neck and someone planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Mistletoe!” Mimi explained with a wink and an excited thrill to her voice, and pushed Ken – cheeks flushed worse than before – to the middle of the room. “You can’t spend the entire party sulking in the corners, Ken-kun, that’s not good for you! Have you had gingerbread? Or the candy canes? I got them from New York!”

Ken didn’t know what to say; he squirmed in the attention Mimi’s antics drew to both of them. Palmon’s obvious embarrassment at her partner’s comportment didn’t exactly help.

“Grab something to eat – we decided not to bother with sitting around a table. It’s much more fun if everyone sits where they want to and move around and all that. Oh, and don’t forget to hand over your Secret Santa gift. I drew Daisuke – sorry about that!” She giggled happily, and Ken wished he could sink into the floor. He was getting increasingly overwhelmed, not just by Mimi’s bubbly personality and the attention that came with it. Everyone was chatting with each other, it was loud and Ken felt left out – he loved spending time with his friends, but… large groups of people made him uncomfortable. And twelve people in a four-person flat was a bit much at the best of times. He was so caught up in his anxiety that he didn’t even notice Daisuke looking at him worriedly.

Quietly, he went over to Miyako to give her the present he’d picked out for her. That, at least, had been easy. He knew Miyako quite well by now and so had had no trouble finding something she’d enjoy.

“Ahh, thanks, Ken-kun! I’ve been looking for this piece of hardware for so long – how did you find it?”

Finally, he managed to smile a little. “I found it in a specialist shop in Tamachi, actually. I’m glad you like it.”

Miyako hugged him, too, but a lot less exuberantly than Mimi so that no one else turned their heads in their direction. Ken was grateful for it and returned the hug shyly.

“What’s up with you and Daisuke tonight, by the way? You two are odder than usual. Don’t tell me you got into a fight?!”

It was just like Miyako to put the finger directly into the wound.

“Ah…well…I…I did something stupid, and Daisuke is…I think he’s angry with me.”

“I’m not.”

He looked up with a start. Daisuke was standing directly in front of him, looking strangely guilty.

“Ah…! Daisuke, I’m sorry… I swear I was only teasing you…!”

“I know! I was just teasing you back! Sorry! I think I overdid it… I didn’t want you to freak out about it!”

He distinctly heard Miyako mutter “boys!” before she walked away and left them to sort out their own personal mess.

“Oh…I thought you…I thought you were mad at me…ouch!”

Daisuke had bumped their foreheads together and was staring into Ken’s eyes, hands clasped behind Ken’s neck. “I’m sorry dude. I thought it was funny making you think I was mad at you, letting you carry the bags for a bit…revenge, you know? But I wasn’t _really_ mad. It was a good prank!”

How silly he’d been. He’d worried so much that he’d done damage to their friendship that he hadn’t even realised that Daisuke had been trying to talk to him all evening. He cleared his throat. “Uhm… I’ve got something for you.”

“Daisuke, does that mean we get more presents?”

Ken drew back a little, still sniffling. He hadn’t noticed Chibimon still sitting in Daisuke’s hoodie.

“If anything, **I** get a present. You guys have all eaten so much chocolate tonight that you really shouldn’t get anything else until New Year’s!”

Chibimon’s puffed up his cheeks, but Daisuke only grinned before turning back to Ken. “You don’t have to give me anything – I think Chibimon just always assumes we’re getting something when somebody says they have something for us, don’t worry about it…so, what is it?”

“Well, it is a present…” He pulled the longish box out of his bag. “…I saw it in a shop today and thought you’d like it…”

Daisuke took it and ripped the gift wrap off hastily. “Woah… are those cooking chopsticks? Those look really good! They must have been expensive!”

“Mhh…”

“Is that…dude, that dragon totally looks like XVeemon!”

Ken nodded. “I…I saw them in a shop window, and I just had to think of your partner immediately…” He didn’t often see blue dragons on chopsticks like that, and he knew how much Daisuke liked to cook, so the chopsticks had seemed ideal. Cautiously, he tried to look up at Daisuke’s face to assess his reaction, but he didn’t get to see his expression. Daisuke had already pulled him into a tight hug.

“These are amazing, Ken! Thank you! Aww man, I feel absolutely rotten now because I gave you such a hard time…!”

Ken felt the rest of his anxiety leave him and he finally relaxed. Reconciled with Daisuke, he was much better equipped to deal with the buzzing conversations around him. They ended the hug, but Daisuke kept one arm wrapped around Ken’s middle and Ken was beaming, glad that Daisuke liked his present.

He glanced at his best friend sideways. He hadn’t yet received his Secret Santa’s present – not that he was particularly bothered about that – he was happy enough just being with his friends, now that he could be sure that he hadn’t inadvertently destroyed his most important friendship. But could it be possible that he would get his gift from Daisuke out of all people?

Daisuke, however, didn’t say anything so Ken didn’t ask. Together, they went over to Takeru, Iori and Koushiro. For the first time tonight, Ken felt at ease and was able to enjoy the chatter. He was just about to debate with Iori whether there were any similarities between judo and kendo when he felt a tap on the shoulder. Surprised, he turned around to find Yamato standing there.

“Hey, Ken-kun, can you come over for a sec? I need to talk with you.”

Somewhat confused, Ken nodded and freed himself from Daisuke’s arm. “Of course, Yamato-senpai.” Curiously, he followed the older Chosen Child to a quiet corner. He hadn’t really talked that much with Yamato before – the longest conversation they’d ever had was probably back when they’d both been in Mexico…

Gabumon had come along and was tugging at Yamato’s sleeves anxiously. “Stop bothering me, I told you I’ve got another one!” Yamato whispered, and Ken frowned.

“Listen, kid, I got your name in Mimi’s stupid Secret Santa scheme, and I had absolutely no clue what to get you. Probably should have got you a book or something, but I don’t know what you like to read.”

Ken didn’t say anything.

“But then I thought that maybe I should give you something…symbolic.” It was quite clear that Yamato was embarrassed – Ken already knew that Yamato could be just as withdrawn and quiet as Ken himself, albeit less fragile – and he didn’t seem to enjoy this conversation much, though Ken couldn’t tell why.

“So I got you this.” Yamato handed him a small box, which Ken took carefully into both hands. “You don’t have to like it, I just thought it was…appropriate.”

Slowly, Ken took off the wrapping paper and opened the gift box. It contained a battered old harmonica. Uncertain what to make of it, he looked up at Yamato again with a question written all over his face.

“I had that with me when I was in the Digital World for the first time.” Ken nodded, blinking, still none the wiser. “And I know it’s not quite the same thing – technically, Daisuke’s my kohai in this since he got my crest and all that, and you got your own, but – as much as Taichi and I fight – I’ve been his second-in-command much in the same way you’ve been that to Daisuke, Jogress included. Frankly, I think, without us, they’d have both gotten themselves killed by now. Anyway. Daisuke’s already got Taichi’s old goggles. So I figured that you should have this.”

Ken looked at the harmonica, then at Yamato, then back at the harmonica. He tried to be calm but his vision was already blurring.

“Ah shit, is it that disappointing? Sorry, I know it was a bit cheap to give you a “symbolic” gift like that…”

Ken shook his head, eyes already brimming with tears.

“…it’s…it’s wonderful…” he choked out.

“Really?! Oh good… Takeru thought it was lame so he would probably have scolded me if you didn’t like it…”

Ken wiped his tears off on his sleeves, and then let his gaze wander around the room. Taichi and Agumon had made it their goal to get rid of all the gingerbread together while Tailmon and Hikari watched, the one disapprovingly rolling her eyes, the other giggling. Miyako and Koushiro were bent over a laptop, discussing some programme or other – perhaps with the help of the equipment Daisuke and Ken had bought earlier that day?  Iori and Takeru were standing at the buffet, listening to Mimi talking loudly and excitedly about America. Jou and Sora had disappeared into the kitchen, preparing some more elaborate form of dessert. Patamon and Tentomon were circling overhead while most of the other Digimon had settled into a couch.

Ken turned his head to Minomon, who was hovering next to his head. “What’s wrong, Ken-chan? Are you okay?”  


“I am, thank you, Minomon.”

 

He looked back to Yamato and smiled. “Thank you, Yamato-senpai. I appreciate it.”

 

Yamato smiled back, clearly relieved that his present had gained Ken’s approval. Tenderly, Ken ran his fingers across the cold metal of the harmonica. It was symbolic, just as Yamato had said, but it didn’t just mean that he was Daisuke’s second-in-command and it didn’t just mean he was Daisuke’s Jogress partner. It didn’t just mean he had taken Yamato’s position in the younger team either.

Instead, it meant one thing above all – that he belonged to these people around him and that he truly was one of the Chosen Children now. Ken looked around at his friends and felt happier than he had for years.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this Christmas short and didn't think it was too kitsch-y! It's certainly a bit of a break from the stuff I usually write, but I couldn't get rid of the idea in any other way but to share it...


End file.
